{"id":159636,"date":"2021-02-22T09:25:54","date_gmt":"2021-02-22T14:25:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=159636"},"modified":"2021-02-22T09:28:45","modified_gmt":"2021-02-22T14:28:45","slug":"the-lefts-push-to-cancel-conservative-media-isnt-fighting-disinformation-its-censorship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-lefts-push-to-cancel-conservative-media-isnt-fighting-disinformation-its-censorship\/","title":{"rendered":"The Left\u2019s Push To Cancel Conservative Media Isn\u2019t \u2018Fighting Disinformation.\u2019 It\u2019s Censorship."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fthe-lefts-push-to-cancel-conservative-media-isnt-fighting-disinformation-its-censorship%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=159636&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/GettyImages-52004734.jpg?w=1200&#038;h=800&#038;ixlib=react-9.0.3\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" \/><\/div>\n<p>The trend among progressives to limit speech moves to Capitol Hill this week when Democrat lawmakers convene a hearing on \u201cdisinformation and extremism in the media.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>According to the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/energycommerce.house.gov\/newsroom\/press-releases\/ec-committee-announces-hearing-on-traditional-media-s-role-in-promoting\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/energycommerce.house.gov\/newsroom\/press-releases\/ec-committee-announces-hearing-on-traditional-media-s-role-in-promoting&#038;source=gmail&#038;ust=1613860229389000&#038;usg=AFQjCNFVl75ivHAjvRi_X88XJ_rlB1rLWA\">hearing announcement<\/a>, \u201cthe spread of disinformation and extremism by traditional news media presents a tangible and destabilizing threat,\u201d and lawmakers look forward to hearing \u201cwhat more can be done to address this growing problem moving forward.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>One option being considered by many on the Left is censorship \u2014 the effort to punish or prevent discussion using force or pressure \u2014 whether the effort involves government actors or not. Progressives are leading the charge to limit expression when they don\u2019t agree with it.<\/p>\n<p>The Left used to pay lip service to the dangers of censorship whether it was justified or not. It wasn\u2019t that long ago that the Left claimed any criticism of Colin Kaepernick\u2019s loathsome attacks on the U.S. flag constituted censorship. Not only were we told that we must withhold our views of his attacks on Old Glory, but we were also told we should join in the attacks or freedom to protest would be imperiled. These claims, of course were baseless. Kaepernick was never forced to recant his hostility to the flag. Today the NFL is more \u201cwoke\u201d than it was when Kaepernick started his protests despite the vigorous public debate.<\/p>\n<p>Consider the Left\u2019s complaints at the beginning of the George W. Bush administration that EPA\u2019s failure to promote global warming priorities constituted \u201csuppression\u201d that would make Americans dangerously unaware of the serious risks we faced. Ignoring the legal right of an incoming administration to set policy, the Left\u2019s supporters at The New York Times and the academy claimed that the Bush administration\u2019s actions were akin to suppressing science.<\/p>\n<p>Today the tables are turned and many on the Left espouse censorship as a useful tool to achieve their goals. Whether a part of \u201ccancel culture,\u201d \u201cdoxing\u201d or boycotts, progressives now openly seek to censor voices and opinions they oppose. In the name of preventing \u201celection misinformation\u201d and \u201cfake news,\u201d the Left recently launched a campaign to pressure cable providers \u2014 like Comcast and Charter \u2014 to drop Newsmax, Fox News, and One America News. Using writing campaigns, boycott threats and targeting of individual cable companies, the progressives claim they aren\u2019t censoring views they abhor, but instead merely ensuring the American people aren\u2019t misled. It\u2019s not censorship, but \u201charm reduction,\u201d as <a href=\"http:\/\/transcripts.cnn.com\/TRANSCRIPTS\/2101\/31\/rs.01.html\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=http:\/\/transcripts.cnn.com\/TRANSCRIPTS\/2101\/31\/rs.01.html&#038;source=gmail&#038;ust=1613860229389000&#038;usg=AFQjCNEeG7n2gs6_R46IlODoZuEzSuymfQ\">one CNN commentator recently<\/a>\u00a0noted.<\/p>\n<p>In Shakespeare\u2019s Romeo and Juliet, Juliet tells Romeo, that a \u201crose by any other name would smell as sweet.\u201d What she means is that what you call something doesn\u2019t affect what it is. Similarly, the campaign by the Left to force cable networks to drop certain news outlets is suppression regardless of their rationale.<\/p>\n<p>This suppression runs afoul of laws passed by Congress and enforced by the FCC that were designed to ensure a variety of news sources are available on cable networks. Echoing the First Amendment, Congress determined that it\u2019s the responsibility of consumers to decide whether programming is valuable and useful \u2014 not the job of the extreme Left.<\/p>\n<p>Moreover, if today\u2019s censors are successful, not only would they have suppressed alternative viewpoints, but they would also provide a monopolist advantage to cable companies like Time Warner and AT&#038;T\u00a0that own news networks conspicuously not on the Left\u2019s target list.<\/p>\n<p>Instead of hearings on how cable companies promote disinformation, a better use of Congress\u2019 time would be to investigate the coordinators of efforts to deplatform Fox and Newsmax as well as the possible role if any news networks themselves are playing in that project. When CNN media reporter Oliver Darcy appears to say the quiet part out loud \u2014 \u201cIt is time TV carriers face questions for lending their platforms to dishonest companies that profit off of disinformation and conspiracy theories\u201d \u2014 it might be useful to know how far up the network food chain this line of thought goes.<\/p>\n<p>Even if the Left won\u2019t call it censorship, efforts to suppress cable news companies sure smells like it.<\/p>\n<p><em>Horace Cooper is a senior fellow with the National Center for Public Policy Research.<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><em>The views expressed in this opinion piece are the author\u2019s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><em>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a\u00a0<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\"><span class=\"s1\"><em>member<\/em><\/span><\/a><em>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The trend among progressives to limit speech moves to Capitol Hill this week when Democrat lawmakers convene a hearing on \u201cdisinformation and extremism in the media.\u201d According to the\u00a0hearing announcement, &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2273914,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/GettyImages-52004734.jpg?w=1200&h=800&ixlib=react-9.0.3","fifu_image_alt":"The Left\u2019s Push To Cancel Conservative Media Isn\u2019t \u2018Fighting Disinformation.\u2019 It\u2019s Censorship.","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-159636","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/GettyImages-52004734.jpg?w=1200&h=800&ixlib=react-9.0.3","fifu_image_alt":"The Left\u2019s Push To Cancel Conservative Media Isn\u2019t \u2018Fighting Disinformation.\u2019 It\u2019s Censorship.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159636","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=159636"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159636\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2273914"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=159636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=159636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=159636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}